Pregnant Lerchek arrived at court with the father of her fourth child.
Thirty-three-year-old blogger Lerchek (real name Valeria Chekalina) confirmed she is expecting her fourth child. She appeared outside the courthouse where her multi-million dollar fraud case is being heard today, her belly bulging.
Lerchek also confirmed to journalists gathered outside the courtroom that the child's father is her dance coach, 37-year-old Argentine Luis Squicchiarini. "He's the father of the unborn child," she said.
It became known in mid-November that Lerchek, who has been under house arrest for over a year, was expecting her fourth child. Almost immediately, the media discovered that she was dating Squicchiarini. A year earlier, she divorced the father of her three children, blogger Artyom Chekalin, who is also a defendant in the criminal case. After the divorce, Artyom briefly dated blogger Nadezhda Senatskaya, but their romance ended soon after he ran into further legal trouble.
Last September, the Chekalins were finally charged with the illegal transfer of funds abroad on an especially large scale. According to investigators, several years ago, the couple transferred over 250 million rubles abroad using forged documents, which they obtained by selling online fitness marathon courses. Both were placed under house arrest. If found guilty, the couple faces 5 to 10 years in prison.
The Chekalins had previously come under scrutiny from law enforcement. In 2023, a criminal case was opened against them for tax evasion amounting to over 300 million rubles, but they escaped criminal liability. The Chekalins repaid the debt, and the case against them was dropped.
Photo: ler_chek_official/Telegram
